We sadly parted ways with Jeff and Joan in Lisbon. They went back to York, PA; we hopped a Viking River cruise on the Duoro River and traveled through Portugal up to Northern Spain. 

This time there were @150 people on board with us.  But this time more than half of them were British.  Of course, there's nothing wrong with that fact, but they tend to be more reserved than we Americans.  Day by day, hat being pulled out of hat bag, cultural differences began to fade.  We soon bonded with 3 other couples, one of whom was British.  The last night they all cheerfully agreed to wear one of my hats; the men were the best sports of all!  As we made our way to the Dining Room, everyone was applauded.  Everyone was thanked for the fun we added to the trip.
                                                                   

Not pictured :  John. You will just have to imagine him wearing the dainty pink satin/black feathered fascinator purchased in Lisbon.

Once again, my joy of hats was shared with everyone on board.  The morning after our hatted dinner, I received this special note from the couple in the first picture:  "Dear Archie, Thank you for including us in your fun 'special hat' evening.  We had a 'blast.' "

                                                                                                     *****

All aboard!  This time we climbed on a train tour that, similar to a cruise, would be our "traveling" hotel, with different stops along the tracks each day.  It would present our greatest challenge language-wise.  To our shock (and disadvantage in terms of getting the full description of the sites), only 6 of the 60 passengers spoke English, and only 2 of them were an American couple.  The other 2 were gentlemen from Switzerland.

Joyce, the American lady, became an ally and good sport hat wearer from the start.  Here she is wearing one of mine, sitting with her husband, Paul.  In the next photo, she is wearing the one John wore at our "hat table" on the previous trip. She would later email me that "Our train odyssey wouldn't have been near as much fun without you all."

Just like the previous tour groups, others began to notice the new hats I wore each day.  Since they couldn't speak English, they used smiles and "thumbs up!"  The language of hats started to be spoken.  Eventually I shared a number of my hats with the Spanish ladies as well.

But the real affirmation of the joy of hats and how they bring people together occurred the last night.  Earlier in the day, one of the Spanish gentlemen asked me to present the tip to our Tour Director.  No one knew we would be given a ballot to vote for the sexiest passenger, the nicest passenger, and the male and female individuals who best represented the spirit of the trip.

I resurrected my high school and college Spanish and wrote my speech to present the gift to our Tour Director	Naturally I pulled it out of my hat...
The Tour Director continued the Program	as everyone looked on
Next came the Awards.  I am being presented with my sash as...	...Ms. Transcantabrico (the name of the Train)
With no language other than "hats," I was selected as the spirit of the trip.  How can I NOT be passionate about them!	Here are the other winners in their respective categories: Nicest, Mr. Transcantabrico, me, Sexiest (which John voted for me:>)
The rest of the night I shared them however I could..	...with whomever I could

Thus an odyssey that began with hats ended with hats.  They proved beyond a reasonable doubt they speak a language of their own, cut across cultural, religious, and time lines, and bring joy to the wearer and the observer.  Of all the "F" words that described our Fortunate Foray, Friends and Fun Fit it best.  Thanks for sharing it.

Contents